Did he do Formula Nippon as well or just the odd round? I can't remember.

Professional careerIn 1990, de le Rosa joined the Spanish Formula Ford 1600 and became champion. He also joined the British Formula Renault 1600 and got two podiums out of six races. In 1991, de la Rosa achieved fourth place in the Spanish Formula Renault Championship with three podium finishes. In 1992 he won both the European and British Formula Renault. However, he slipped down the order in the next two years. In 1995, he was champion of the Japanese Formula 3 series and third in the Macau Grand Prix. In 1996, he finished 8th in both the Formula Nippon F3000 and All Japan GT Championship. The next year he was champion of the Formula Nippon F3000. He was also the Japan All GT Champion.................

Professional careerIn 1990, de le Rosa joined the Spanish Formula Ford 1600 and became champion. He also joined the British Formula Renault 1600 and got two podiums out of six races. In 1991, de la Rosa achieved fourth place in the Spanish Formula Renault Championship with three podium finishes. In 1992 he won both the European and British Formula Renault. However, he slipped down the order in the next two years. In 1995, he was champion of the Japanese Formula 3 series and third in the Macau Grand Prix. In 1996, he finished 8th in both the Formula Nippon F3000 and All Japan GT Championship. The next year he was champion of the Formula Nippon F3000. He was also the Japan All GT Champion.................

Ah, that makes sense now. I remembered him doing Japanese F3 but didn't remember him winning Formula Nippon.

Great for Pedro, good to see him get a race seat after all this time. He has to be slower than Kovy, McLaren had plenty of data, but he was always quicker than Paffett. I imagine his job is to be Uncle Pedro to Kamui, which he should be very good at.

BTW is he popular in Spain?I know Alonso is massive popular over there and until his advent F1 had not been so big.

yes mate, this guy is a legend already...2nd best spanish ever in f1 history and the best commentator ever...it's gonna be a huge loss for la sexta and spectators but it's utterly worthy it, this guy is loved in spain and this is the best way to end up his racing career in f1...that's was all he asked, be able to race one season...go for it pedro!!!

I think it's good that Pedro has a full time race seat. Most folks would have given up years ago, whereas he's kept on working away as a test driver, always hoping for another seat to come available. For those concerned that he's taking a spot needlessly, if he can't bring the results Sauber want, he'll be replaced. He knows that, I'm sure, but I bet he's going to give his all to make good on his second chance. He's got testing time to reacquaint himself with the cars; I don't expect him to come out as a superstar, but he should be a mid pack driver who can give useful feedback. Sauber took on last season's darling, Kobayashi, so no one can complain that the team isn't giving a chance to a hyped newcomer as well.

That said, I can't believe for a moment that Pedro doesn't have some financial help – a sponsor-paid salary at minimum - considering his age and time away from actual racing. All the best to him anyway; he's obviously been an excellent development driver, (else McLaren wouldn't have held onto him for so long), which can worth lots to a team wanting to re-establish itself. Besides, his return is just a really nice story, him seeming such a likable guy and all.

I think he was a good choice for Sauber. NH would have given the team no new input, while Pedro will know a few things from McLaren that will be of use. He will be able to compare the Sauber to the last McLaren. He will be the perfect guy to teach Kobayashi to set-up a F1 car.

I though De La Rosa had some outstanding drives in the Orange Arrows, before that team started to decline. The Jaguar wasn't a car that allowed him to further his career. His McLaren outings were some of the most entertaining drives I've watched and I'm sure the lairiness will disappear with a few races back under his belt.

BTW is he popular in Spain?I know Alonso is massive popular over there and until his advent F1 had not been so big.

Actually I bet that he may be the most liked F1 driver in Spain as a person... Many Spaniards first contact with F1 was with De La Rosa. They came back when Alonso showed up, but Pedro introduced F1 to a lot of Spaniards.

Like Badoer?, no way, Pedro is a F1 driver or tester if you want with a lot of real experience, Badoer not. I think he is going to do well, better than Barrichello and some other drivers outside the top 3 teams.

BTW is he popular in Spain?I know Alonso is massive popular over there and until his advent F1 had not been so big.

He's a legend here in Spain. The fact that most of people here hate Hamilton -no racism and all that shit intended, as British press tried to create against the Spanish fans- is because the 2007 season would have been a dream with Alonso and De la Rosa as team-mates in McLaren fighting together and winning race after race. The decission of giving Hamilton the second car in McLaren instead De la Rosa was not understood in Spain. And when Hamilton started to trigger investigations against Alonso and all that was like a huge "WHAT???????????" here.

The hope of the fans now is that both Alonso and De la Rosa can win and De la Rosa could have his revenge against all those ones who never trusted in him.

To understand that, you only need to visit his forum in his web-page pedrodelarosa.com. One of the best and smartests forums about F1 in the world. You can find there his fisio, experts on F1, F1 drivers, fans et all. Not a single insult is allowed there. Fans always talk in the most respectful way towards all drivers.

Just think that an Alonso-De la Rosa team would have been: McLaren World Champion Constructor, Alonso World Champion, De la Rosa probably sub-champion.

Instead that, you have that in 2007 McLaren, being the best team, got... nothing.

Well you have to separate the choice between Hamilton and de la Rosa from the other things. Hamilton was obviously the correct choice, for the team. And 2007 would have been won in several different scenarios, one of which is if they had never hired Fernando .

Wanting a Spanish pair irrespective of talent is really extreme nationalism. In the context of recent history and the effect of the Franco decades then it's understandable, but you can't expect anyone else to agree with you. Very greedy

You should just be grateful to have one talent like Alonso, Pedro and Jaime are a bonus

Just think that an Alonso-De la Rosa team would have been: McLaren World Champion Constructor, Alonso World Champion, De la Rosa probably sub-champion.

Instead that, you have that in 2007 McLaren, being the best team, got... nothing.

I think that's crediting de la Rosa with too much. Hamilton is a far better driver. I have nothing against the Spanish as a whole (though I do have issues with some of their reporting), but it's not every Spanish driver's right to a World Championship before all other drivers. A lot of Spanish drivers - Andy Soucek in particular - seem to think that way.

Well you have to separate the choice between Hamilton and de la Rosa from the other things. Hamilton was obviously the correct choice, for the team. And 2007 would have been won in several different scenarios, one of which is if they had never hired Fernando .

Wanting a Spanish pair irrespective of talent is really extreme nationalism. In the context of recent history and the effect of the Franco decades then it's understandable, but you can't expect anyone else to agree with you. Very greedy

You should just be grateful to have one talent like Alonso, Pedro and Jaime are a bonus

What? Extreme nationalism?????

I meant both Alonso and De la Rosa are, in the same way, drivers AND test drivers. They knew how to develope a car and what they wanted from a car. They weren't fighting each other and they both are really competitives.

What Franco has to do with this? Franco died 35 years ago, for Godsake! It sounds as weird as a Spaniard describing English people having in mind Henry the Eight or something like that. You should visit Spain. It is really laughable the way some people take some prejudices as a whole true...

Stuffed up 2007 when he started spitting the dummy, made a meal of 2008 when he was in the fastest car by some margin.

Developed a poor car for 2009, and when the engineers and Heikki fixed his mistakes, couldnt take many wins after germany when he had a dominant car, plus all the lieing and bigging himself up to the detriment of the team.

I meant both Alonso and De la Rosa are, in the same way, drivers AND test drivers. They knew how to develope a car and what they wanted from a car. They weren't fighting each other and they both are really competitives.

What Franco has to do with this? Franco died 35 years ago, for Godsake! It sounds as weird as a Spaniard describing English people having in mind Henry the Eight or something like that. You should visit Spain. It is really laughable the way some people take some prejudices as a whole true...

Pedro was slower than Lewis, that's why he was hired as the test driver and not the race driver. It's a sport about speed.

Franco set Spain back in the same way that a totalitarian regime set half of Germany back - in 4 decades the same people went from making Mercs and BMW's in the democratic half to making Trabants in the totalitarian half. That takes a long time to recover from.

That affects national self-confidence, obviously, and we see even on here that the more confident nations are less desperate about their success in F1.

And for sure it's completely desperate to be hating Hamilton because you didn't have TWO Spaniards racing at McLaren